Where in pays basque did you settle? It's one of the areas that we're considering when we make our move in about two years. Did a tour there (both sides of the border) last summer and loved it.
We've been here for just shy of 10 years now.
We first considered places like Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Biarritz - but for practical reasons, we decided on Bayonne. It's a working town that hums throughout the year, with the kind of shops and facilities that you need for everyday living - plus the cost per square metre of property is
half that of nearby St-J-de-L and Biarritz. Saint-Jean is only 20-25 mins away by car and Biarritz only 10-15 mins.. so we never feel as if we've deprived ourselves by living here.
From here, we can be up in the mountains in less than half and hour - or we can be on the beach in 10 mins. San Sebastian in Spain is 45 mins away and our visitors always enjoy a trip there - it's a very stylish town that seems to have been designed for pedestrians.
We've made good friends here (both French and Basques) through various activities of which there's no shortage..
Nowhere's perfect of course - and what works for us might not work for someone else. Deciding on one location is inevitably a compromise - you shuffle your priorities to see what you can and can't live with. All I know is that we both feel well-rooted here and we've yet to have a day when we've regretted our move to the Pays Basque.
Hope this helps.
